SCOTLAND has the lowest percentage of earners making below the Living Wage – as the Scottish Government continues to work to promote the Living Wage in all sectors continues.

There are nearly 1800 Living Wage-accredited employers in Scotland – and around a quarter of accredited real Living Wage employers in the UK are based in Scotland.

Figures from the ONS confirm that Scotland has 14.4% of employees paid below the living wage – the lowest in the UK, and below the UK average. England has 17.2% and Northern Ireland trails bottom at 21.3%.

This comes after the country’s capital was accredited by Living Wage Scotland last November in recognition of the city’s plans to deliver on its Edinburgh Living Wage City action plan, which seeks to double the number of Living Wage accredited businesses to more than 900 over the next few years.

Fiona Hyslop MSP said: “It’s encouraging to see Scotland leading the UK nations in terms of Living Wage employment, and it’s welcome that employers have got so emphatically behind the campaign.

“People should be paid enough to live on – that must be a basic principle of any civilised nation.

“The SNP Scottish Government has made significant efforts to promote the real Living Wage – paying all staff, including NHS staff, the real Living Wage since 2011, and ensuring that staff working in private nurseries delivering our childcare pledge are paid the real Living Wage too.

“The Tory government tried to cheat the system with a pretend ‘National Living Wage’ – which falls below the independently set real Living Wage – Scotland accounts for around a quarter of Real Living Wage employers, despite only accounting for 8% of the UK population.

“With the full powers of independence, Scotland would have the full powers to introduce the real Living Wage as a minimum wage – something the UK Government has shamefully failed to do.”